Let me take the guess work out of buying energy drinks for you! Energy Drink Reviews

Average to high carbonation, yellow/green color similar to lemon-lime Gatorade, artificial sweetener (sucralose) and you can really taste that, it leaves a steady aftertaste in your mouth. The word artificial comes to mind every time I see this can. Once you get past the fake lemon lime flavor you read the ingredients and notice there is OJ concentrate in there… but where is the orange taste? Unless you can buy this for under $1 I would pass on this drink, I am not a fan of the sugar free beverages.

Content: zero carbs and calories, caffeine, ester of wood rosin, bromated veggie oil, taurine, guarana, ginseng and B vitamins

250mL bullet can with a green pull tab.

Purchased at Big Lots for $.60

Beast Energy comes in your standard 250mL bullet can with a brown/silver color scheme. Beast is made in Austria by Prima Drinks Handels GmbH; Red Bull is made in Austria also and sometimes you will see Red Bull GmbH. GmbH (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung) is a legal entity very popular in Germany (Switzerland + Austria) similar to a Corporation in the states; there is no association between the two companies.

OK… enough with the business part on with the good stuff! Beast has a deep gold color, mild carbonation, dry taste, mild flavor and no real aftertaste. This could be a good drink to have an energy drink virgin sample; it doesn’t have that normal energy drink kick.  Props to K585 for the purchase at Great Freight for $.50

Non carbonated, gold in color, flavor explosion on your tongue! Did I mention the intense flavor this drink packs? Carabao is very similar to a Red Bull but then they added some more flavor. The consistency has a thick taste, almost like it’s a cough syrup. 250mL aluminum can, contains the usual caffeine, taurine + inositol (can didn’t list the amounts) product of Thailand. I would have no problem recommending this drink to anyone. Thanks to Ken for bringing this back from the Seattle Asian market!

I had the pleasure to sample an Effect Energy when my buddy Dave brought me one back from Germany. This drink is very similar to a mild Red Bull, gold in color, mild carbonation and minimal aftertaste. Effect is made in Germany and is pretty popular over there. The plastic bottle I sampled was .33L but I guess Effect comes in various sizes and containers (cans, glass bottles, keg, 20L box and plastic bottles.)

Effect contains the usual list of ingredients: 32mg caffeine, 400mg taurine, inositol + B vitamins. I would have no problem drinking this beverage any day of the week, goes down smooth and doesn’t give you the shakes!

It was a long Labor Day weekend so I decided to crack open a Java Monster “Mean Bean”. Monster makes 3 variations of the Java line; Mean Bean (vanilla flavor), Big Black (coffee flavor) & Loca Moca (chocolate flavor). The Java line of drinks was introduced earlier this year (2007) and each variation has a slightly different colored can. Mean Bean has a nice coffee aroma when you open it up, looks similar to a Starbucks Frappuccino drink and has a smooth creamy taste. I wasn’t sure how this was gonna taste, I was hesitant when I first saw this drink on the shelf… energy drink + coffee… but believe it or not it has a pretty decent taste for a coffee drink!

MB has the standard 1000mg of taurine (per 8oz serving) and 2500mg energy blend (caffeine, guarana + inositol)

If you like coffee flavored drinks, give this a shot!

(15 oz can - $1.99 at gas station)

Monster Energy is the next most popular brand in my region and was introduced in 2002. Monster is offered in the 16oz can for $2 and competes against Red Bull that sells for $2 in the 8.3oz can. (Monster is also sold in the 23.5 oz XXL cans) Monster is lightly carbonated, deeper gold color, distinct bite and no aftertaste. The ingredient list gives you 2000mg of taurine and 160mg of caffeine, exactly the same as Red Bull but you’re getting 8 oz more for the same price. I think you will enjoy Monster if you like that “baby aspirin” energy taste.

Here is the drink that started the energy drink craze! Red Bull is the most popular energy drink out there right now and sold around the world in 130 countries. The formula is the same worldwide except for vitamin content due to national regulations. The original version of Red Bull was created back in 1962 but the Red Bull that we all know was released in 1987 and is considered the “Austrian version”. (Look on your can…. most of the 250 mL cans will say made in Austria)

I have sampled many energy drinks and Red Bull is still one of my favorite, it may not be the best value out there but you can find it anywhere! Lightly carbonated, gold in color and has what I call that baby aspirin taste to it. The baby aspirin taste is what many drinks will copy, it may not taste just like baby aspirin but people get the point once they sample a Red Bull. RB contains 80mg of caffeine which is less than a cup of filter coffee and 1000mg of taurine.

Enough about the “bull” I am sure you have sampled one if you found this site!